Meet the Executive Council Candidates
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We are pleased to announce that two AESA members are running for one position on the executive council.
AESA expresses its appreciation to both educational leaders for their willingness to go through the election process. It is clear from their leadership that each candidate is worthy of the position. The AESA Executive Council and staff wish these candidates the best of luck on this journey!
AESA Bylaws provide that only the executive directors (CEOs) of member agencies can vote. (Ballots will be distributed in a separate announcement to all executive directors on December 13, 2019 and should be returned no later than January 13, 2020)
The United States is divided into four regions that are represented on the executive council. There is one vacancy in the Southern, Eastern and Western Region. There is no contested race in the Southern or Eastern regions.
Be sure to stop at the candidates' tables at the 2019 Annual Conference in Phoenix, Arizona!
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Western Representative to the AESA
Governance Council
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Pat Sublette, Ph.D.
Superintendent of Columbia Gorge ESD
The need for strong education service agencies has never been greater. Maintaining and expanding the influence of ESAs requires strategic innovation and bold new collaborations. Bringing groups together to create actionable solutions is vital to our work.
As your Western Representative, I will leverage prior experience (20 years at ESAs in multiple roles, 11 years in public and 9 in private schools and universities) to serve you through partnerships and results that represent your interests.
As superintendent of Columbia Gorge ESD, I serve on several committees that support my region and ESDs e.g., Oregon Association of School Executives, the Children Systems Advisory Committee and the Oregon Association of ESDs Finance Committee.
I also enjoy standing in rivers with a fly rod and waders as fish pass by unconcerned.
I hope to earn your vote.
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Dr. Kristen Benson
Executive Director at Fremont County
BOCES (Board of Cooperative Education Services)
Dr. Kristen Benson was a teacher, administrator, author, college instructor and is currently the executive director at Fremont County BOCES (Board of Cooperative Education Services).
She was a math/science teacher for 10 years and a middle school administrator for 3 years before relocating to beautiful Wyoming. She was teaching at Central Wyoming College when she was then recruited by Fremont County BOCES to run their career and technical program at the time. She received her bachelors of education at Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) in 1995. She then attended the University of Virginia where she received her Master’s in Curriculum and Instruction in 2002 and doctorate in Education Leadership in 2008.
Dr. Benson serves on many boards. She is the chairman for the Suicide Prevention Taskforce, Fremont County Prevention Coalition, and the Northwest BOCES. She is the clerk for Fremont County School District #6 and Secretary for the Help for Health Hospice.
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Student Privacy
Train-the-Trainer Program for Staff of ESAs
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Funding and training to implement student privacy laws
Since 2013, over 130 new student privacy laws have passed in 41 states. More bills and regulations are rolled out each year, bringing many new requirements for educators and administrators to implement. Some state laws include the threat of jail or large fines when school staff even unintentionally violate student privacy. Unfortunately, few states have received funding or support in implementing these new laws. This isn’t only a legal problem: as technology changes and the amount of information schools collect and maintain increases, ensuring that new educators and administrators come into their schools with the skills needed to protect student privacy in their day-to-day work is challenging. These rapid changes make it almost impossible for local education agencies, especially small or rural schools, to keep up.
Build capacity to lead the effort
Educational service agencies are positioned to be leaders in helping the districts and schools they serve with this evolving landscape, but it can be difficult for them to know where to begin.
The Future of Privacy Forum, a nonprofit focused on consumer privacy, is launching a Train-the-Trainer program in 2020 to build the capacity of ESA staff
and other key stakeholders to become student privacy experts and help the schools they serve. Whether you are new to the student privacy world or an experienced practitioner, the free one-year FPF Student Privacy Train-the-Trainer Program will provide the knowledge and skills to make you a student privacy expert while also connecting you with a peer network and student privacy experts from across the country.
Overview of training
Participants should have a strong interest in student privacy, the willingness to conduct student privacy trainings at their institutions or relevant conferences, and be able to dedicate approximately eight hours per month for virtual webinars (1-2 hours) and asynchronous activities (6 hours).
Participants will also need to travel to Washington, D.C. for in-person workshops in February 2020 and November 2020. Travel scholarships are available for a limited number of participants.
To learn more and apply or nominate someone else to be part of the program, please visit
https://ferpasherpa.org/tttapplication
or email
jpark@fpf.org
.
Applications are accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis but must be submitted
no later than December 8th.
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Online Journal Now Available
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ANNOUNCING . . .
The November/December issue of Accessibility, Compliance & EQUITY (AC&E) Online Journal is now available.
The focus of the journal is K-12 Equity for EVERY SCHOOL, EVERY STUDENT, EVERY DAY.
Enjoy it at
www.ace-ed.org
!
Be sure to check out the article on page 48 – 49 about ESAs!
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EyeSpy 20/20 is truly honored to be an affiliated business partner with AESA as our goal is to provide schools the most accurate and reliable technology for ensuring students can visually process information. As 80% of learning occurs visually, current vision screening methods relying on the printed wall chart, a 150-year-old “technology”, inadequately support our collective endeavor of teaching and preparing children for the future.
EyeSpy 20/20 is a peer-reviewed, medically validated, computerized screening that accurately assesses a child’s visual acuity, depth perception and color vision while they “play” a fun, 3-minute game. EyeSpy 20/20 requires minimal training, eliminates human interpretation, securely stores and reports results, and provides instantaneous reporting in English or Spanish. EyeSpy 20/20 was designed by educators to save time and money while ensuring their students can see.
As your proud partner, we look forward to working with the nation’s best school administrators to bring this amazing technology to their students. Having served more than 1.5 million students to date, EyeSpy 20/20 is the proven method for ensuring school readiness.
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2020 FEDERAL ADVOCACY COMMITTEE MEETING
January 21 - 22, 2020
Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill
400 New Jersey Ave NW
Washington D.C.
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Member Spotlight:
NCEC Educational Hub
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NCEC Educational Hub Makes Professional Learning More Accessible to Educators
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AESA is looking for an ESA that has expertise in technology integration. We are interested in connecting with one of our members who would be willing to advise us on ensuring we are using the correct technology tools for the various work we are doing. For instance, what is video platform should we consider for storing and viewing videos? What tool(s) are best for podcasting? What other new tools can make our work more efficient and accessible to our many audiences?
If your ESA has the expertise and would be willing to advise us, please contact us. We would love to talk to you about our needs to see if you might be the service we are looking for!
jwade@aesa.us
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AESA Annual Conference
December 4 – 7, 2019
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Summer Leadership Conference
July 20-23, 2020
Hilton Nashville Downtown
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Educators' Call to Action Conference
September 28-30 2020
Hyatt Regency on Capitol Hill
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